Billy “Harp” Hamilton Bio

In 1965, inspired by the sounds of the “British Invasion” groups, Bill Coleman convinced his father to buy him a guitar and began playing music in his hometown--Hamilton, Ohio, USA. His first band, The Morticians, played their one and only job at a party in a friend’s basement, where they performed their three-song, all-instrumental repertoire: “House of the Rising Sun,” “Satisfaction,” and “Peter Gunn.” When someone finally came up with a microphone, Coleman put down his guitar to sing and play harmonica “out front,” where he has remained for the past 40-plus years.

Through the late 60s and early 70s, he fronted various rock cover bands in the Cincinnati area. From 1973 to ’76, he attended the University of Cincinnati, where he earned degrees in English Literature and Education. He worked outside music in the late 70s, when the popularity of “disco” clubs made work for live bands scarce. In early 1980s, he formed Derriere, a rock/pop band that was very popular in the Cincinnati-Dayton area. With this group, Coleman recorded his first 45-rpm single in 1982. The “A” side was a cover version of the Beau Brummels’ hit “Just a Little,” while the “B” side featured one of Coleman’s early compositions, “Give It Hell.”

In ‘85, Bill Coleman moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he stumbled onto radio station WQBH-AM and began listening exclusively to the blues and R&B records spun live at local clubs by DJ Jay Butler. Feeling that he had found his proper musical niche, Coleman became a student of the blues. “Since that time, I’ve played primarily blues, soul, and funky R&B,” he says.

In 1987, Coleman adopted the stage name “Billy Hamilton” and set out for London, England, where the Billy Hamilton Band played ’60s soul and R&B in local pubs. They recorded a few demos, which they shopped around to British labels. But the record companies at that time were more interested in “image” bands like A Flock of Seagulls or Milli Vanilli. “They told us we were good,” says Hamilton, “maybe ‘too good.’”

The early ’90s saw Billy Hamilton return to the Cincinnati-Dayton, Ohio, area, where he fronted the White Boys Blues Band for a few years. Except for a very brief stint with the Long Island Blues Band in New York in 2000, Hamilton worked outside music from 1995 to 2001, when he founded Billy “Harp” Hamilton and the Lowriders in Cincinnati. This group played blues, soul, and R&B, including an increasing number of Hamilton’s originals, throughout southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky for five years. With the Lowriders, Hamilton recorded three CDs: Blues/Soul/R&B (2002), Live at the Oxford Music Festival (2005), and Campesino Blues (2006). The first two include a mix of covers and Hamilton’s originals, while the third is Hamilton’s first all-original record. His song “My Baby Must Have Died” was included on a compilation CD released by British label Funkee Fish in 2004, while another, “I Sold Your Ring Today,” is featured on a 2006 CD sampler from California jazz-blues label Network-Pacific.

Armed with these recordings and 40 years of experience, Billy Hamilton left America in January of 2006 to pursue his career in Europe. Over the next four years, he completed 12 successful tours of Central Europe, with dates in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, and recorded another live CD--"Live at Club Hades" (2007). Meanwhile, the "Campesino Blues" CD has received radioairplay in the UK, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Argentina, India, Denmark, Brazil, and the U.S. The title track and four others are featured in "Purgatory Comics," a 2008 film produced by Warm Milk Productions in New York City. While in Europe, Hamilton wrote three CDs’ worth of new material (mostly funky blues/soul, but with a little jazz and even some country mixed in). In January of 2011, he relocated to Austin, Texas, USA, where he was signed by AMI records, a small, independent label that will re-release "Campesino Blues" (with the addition of three live tracks recorded in Lublin, Poland and Austin, TX) at the end of 2011. Meanwhile, Hamilton's latest Lowriders lineup is playing club dates and showcases in Central Texas. Billy Hamilton's music photos, sound/video clips, and tour dates can be found at www.thelowridersband.com and www.myspace.com/billyharphamilton. Booking inquiries and other correspondence may be directed to billyhamiltonandthelowriders@gmail.com or 512-696-2279.

Check out Billy Hamiton's clips on Polish TV! Clip #1 Clip#2

Billy "Harp" Hamilton and the Lowriders at Bliuzo Naktys 2007/Photo by Gediminas Semeta